#UKGovernment expands #police use of #FacialRecognition vans
by Kate Whannel, August 13, 2025
"More live facial recognition (#LFR) vans will be rolled out across seven police forces in England to locate suspects for crimes including sexual offences, violent assaults and homicides, the Home Office has announced.
"The forces will get access to 10 new vans equipped with cameras, which scan the faces of people walking past and check them against a list of wanted people.
"The government says the technology has been used in London to make 580 arrests in 12 months, including 52 registered sex offenders who breached their conditions.
"However, campaign group #BigBrotherWatch said the 'significant expansion of the #SurveillanceState' was 'alarming'.
"Live facial recognition was first used in #England and #Wales in 2017 during the Uefa Champions League final football match in Cardiff.
"Since then its use has largely been confined to #SouthWales, #London and #Essex including at a Beyoncé concert to scan for paedophiles and terrorists [like elderly Palestine Action activists!]
"The government is now funding 10 vans equipped with LFR to be shared between seven forces, approximately doubling the number of vehicles.
"The seven forces are Greater #Manchester, #WestYorkshire, #Bedfordshire, #Surrey, #Sussex, #ThamesValley and #Hampshire.
"The technology identifies people by taking measurements of facial features including the distance between the eyes and the length of the jawline and then comparing the data to to an existing watchlist.
"Each van will be staffed with a trained officer who checks the matches identified by the technology.
"Simultaneously, the government is holding a consultation on what safeguards are needed to "ensure transparency and public confidence", ahead of drawing up a new legal framework.
"Big Brother Watch is bringing a legal challenge against the #MetPolice's use of the technology, alongside #ShaunThompson, who was wrongly identified by an LFR camera.
#Rebecca Vincent, interim director of Big Brother Watch, said: 'Police have interpreted the absence of any legislative basis authorising the use of this intrusive technology as carte blanche to continue to roll it out unfettered, despite the fact that a crucial judicial review on the matter is pending.
" ;The #HomeOffice must scrap its plans to roll out further live facial recognition capacity until robust legislative safeguards are established.'
"Labour peer Baroness Chakrabarti told the BBC the technology was 'incredibly intrusive' and 'some would say this is yet another move towards a total #surveillance society'."
Read more:
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cj4wy21dwkwo
Archived version:
https://archive.ph/I2g32
#Orwellian #UKPol #BigBrotherIsWatchingYou #ThoughtCrime #PalestineAction #Censorship #Authoritarianism
AAKL
John Leonard
PrivacyDigest
DoomsdaysCW
Darren Fower
Cordless Towel
Freezenet
Adrian Segar
